Mulan

Mulan is the latest offering from Disney, and for the
most part, the result is an average animation flick. Given the number
of bad movies this summer (Godzilla, Hope Floats), Mulan
actually may appear better than it seems. However, compared to the
greatness achieved in previous Disney animated movies, I'd say
Mulan doesn't come close.

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) is the name of the heroine in the movie, a
Chinese girl who goes to fight in her father's place, disguised as a
male. Accompanying her is a dragon invoked by her ancestors, Mushu
(Eddie Murphy), and a cricket, Cri Kee. Needless to say, Disney
capitalises on every opportunity to take advantage of the fact Mulan
is a female in the world of males. The most powerful part of the movie
is how Mulan actually makes the decision to not lead the life of a
traditional Chinese girl and take up arms instead, so her father does
not have to fight again. But once she does make the decision, she
proves herself in the army quite readily and before you know it, she's
coming up with ideas to save China from the invading Huns. In some
ways, Mulan has fallen victim to what even some of the
better movies this summer have: the plot has too much action and too
little story.

As with Armageddon,
what really works in this movie is the humour. The animation is
mixed: the backdrops and action scenes are gorgeous, but I found the
movements of the characters to be awkward. I consider the most
spectacular scene in the movie to be the one starting with the
soldiers charging down the mountain and culminating with an avalanche
initiated by Mulan. However, this pales in comparison to scenes in
previous Disney cartoons like the animal stampede in The Lion King. The character
development, particularly of the primary villain, is minimal. This
represents a marked departure from other Disney movies where villains
such as a Jafar or Scar have distinct fearsome personalities. The
music is highly forgettable.

Parts of the film are daring and experimental by Disney standards.
Even though the movie is bold in terms of depicting a female heroine
who can do what the "big boys" can (which in itself is an incongruous
premise), in the end it all boils down to a typical
girl-hooks-up-with-boy ending. There are plenty of disturbing scenes
that are effective particularly when animated as almost still
images. I thought one depicting the massacre left behind by the Huns
was pretty powerful, but, again, this does match up to the depiction
of the death of Simba's father in The
Lion King. While I do think Disney did a positive thing by
going for a somewhat experimental structure, the fact they flop back
to the cliches makes this a somewhat schizophrenic movie and places it
in the "average" category. I recommend the matinee showing or waiting
for it to come out on video.